


Hear Those Bells Ring Deep In Your Soul

by alphayamergo



Category: Bloodlines Series - Richelle Mead, Vampire Academy Series - Richelle Mead
Genre: (Found and Bio), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Sydney Sage, F/M, Female Friendship, Memory Alteration, Sister-Sister Relationship, Spirit Magic, Telepathic Bond
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24329197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphayamergo/pseuds/alphayamergo
Summary: Lissa Dragomirshouldbe happy with her life: she's gotten her place on the Council, her relationship is going well, spirit darkness isn't bothering her, and she's studying her dream degree. Instead, a girl with a purple and yellow aura is following her, insisting that there's a whole life Lissa doesn't remember.Lissa seeks out answers, but answers have the potential to turn the entire Moroi world upside down, and with it, everything Lissa knows about her past.
Relationships: Adrian Ivashkov/Sydney Sage, Dimitri Belikov/Rose Hathaway, Eddie Castile/Jill Mastrano Dragomir, Lissa Dragomir & Rose Hathaway, Lissa Dragomir/Christian Ozera
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Do you know when you get an idea and you can't do _anything_ else until you've written it? That's this fic, and it was inspired almost entirely by my ongoing despair that Lissa never got to punch Victor Dashkov.
> 
> Canon divergence notes: Rose did not kill Victor in Last Sacrifice, and he and Robert got away. From there, things progressed largely like canon, except Nina restored Olive later and closer to Court than she did in canon, meaning Adrian alone travelled to Court to help investigate. Finally, I know exactly nothing about Leigh and it's surrounding area, so any inaccuracies are down to that.
> 
> Title comes from the Gang of Youth's song Achilles Come Down.

Lissa struggled into a sitting position, her hand moving to check the back of her head. Warm blood was oozing from the crown of her head, wetting her fingers. She didn’t have time to focus on it, though – Sonya could heal her later.

If there _was_ a later.

Rose struggled to her feet beside Lissa. Getting thrown against the wall had seen Rose worse for wear, and even Lissa could tell that she was flagging. Still, Rose planted herself in front of Lissa, bringing her fists up in front of her.

“You’re not going to hurt her,” snarled Rose.

“Hurt her?” said Victor, cocking his head. “Oh, no, my dear. I have no need to hurt her.”

Rose spat at him. There was blood colouring her spittle. “Bullshit. You want to be king, then you need to take out the queen.”

“Not quite,” said Victor. He nodded at Robert and said, “Everything is possible with spirit. Even a peaceful revolution.”

“Peaceful?” scoffed Rose. “Peaceful like using good people as your puppets?” Rose took her eyes off Victor, just for a moment, to glance desperately at Dimitri. He didn’t respond, his arms crossed as he started blankly across the room.

“Robert,” said Victor. “It’s time.”

“Rose,” said Lissa. She didn’t know what Victor was planning with Robert, but she knew it wasn’t good, and she couldn’t see them pulling off another miraculous escape: not with Dimitri compelled, Christian knocked out, and Eddie still on the other side of the country. She just wanted to see her best friend’s face one more time before it ended. “Rose, I love you.”

“Liss, I can’t -”

Lissa Dragomir woke up from her nightmare to her boyfriend hovering over her, staring down at her in worry. She blinked away the last of her sleep, his face sharpening in her vision. “Morning,” she whispered.

He learnt down and kissed her lazily, languidly, before pulling away. She made a face; he had morning breath. “Morning,” he echoed.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Just past seven,” he said. “You’ve got the Council meeting soon, remember?”

“Oh, god,” said Lissa, bolting out of bed. “I’m going to be late! You should have woken me sooner!”

Adrian’s laughter followed her out of the room.

-

Lissa arrived at the Council Chambers with exactly three minutes to spare. It wasn’t the entrance she had wanted to make to her first Council session, but at least she hadn’t been _late._ That would have been completely unacceptable.

“Vasilisa!” exclaimed Victor. She hurried over to him, smiling wide at her uncle. “I was starting to worry.”

“Adrian let me sleep in a little too long,” said Lissa, brushing a stray hair behind her ear. “I’m not too late, am I?”

“Of course not,” said Victor. “The only restriction is getting here before the doors close, and you’ve made that.”

“Good,” said Lissa, relieved. “I can’t believe I slept so late; I could barely sleep last night, I was so nervous about today.”

“There’s nothing to be nervous about, my dear,” said Victor. “Trust me. You’ll do wonderfully.”

Lissa smiled. “Thank you, Uncle – or should I be calling you Your Majesty in here?”

“You’ll call me Your Majesty when the doors close,” said Victor. “But I think we can get away with it for the moment, hm?”

“If you say so, Uncle,” said Lissa. Behind them, the royal guardians closed the doors, Guardian Belikov ritually locking them. Lissa left Victor to take her seat under the Dragomir banner. The seats were more comfortable than she expected them to be, but she still couldn’t sit easy.

 _Are you out there, Father?_ she wondered. _Are you proud of me?_

She looked out at the gallery. Adrian was just taking his seat in the front row, and when he saw her looking, he shot her a thumbs up. She smothered her smile, looking down at the table. She focused on the smooth wood that the council table had been carved from, the way the lacquer gleamed under the lights, the dark spots in the wood – anything to keep Adrian from distracting her.

“I now call to order the latest Council session,” said Victor. He stood at the head of the table. Behind him was his throne, carved meticulously with the symbol of the Dashkov at its top, with the other royal families’ crests winding their way down the sides of the chair. “The first order of business is our newest member – Princess Dragomir?”

Lissa rose to her feet, willing herself not to fall or otherwise embarrass herself. Everybody was looking at her, but she ignored the eyes on her, looking steadily at Victor. “Your Majesty.”

“Do you swear to serve the Moroi people?” asked Victor.

“I do,” said Lissa steadily.

“Do you swear to uphold and defend our laws?”

“I do.”

Victor smiled. “Welcome to the Council, Princess.”

Lissa shrank back into her seat gratefully. Across the table, Ariana Szelsky smiled at her reassuringly. _It could have gone worse_ , she thought.

It was a short meeting – Lissa’s induction and the return of the Dragomirs was the main agenda for the day. Lissa listened calmly through the rest of the meeting. She had studied most of the issues in the lead up to the family quorum being changed so she could hit the ground running when she finally joined the Council.

Afterwards, she ducked out of the palace before Adrian had a chance to find her. She loved her boyfriend, but his ideas of celebration were probably extravagant. Lissa didn’t want a party right now. She wanted to spend the time remembering her father and Andre, the ones who should have been seated at the Council table.

She cut across the lawns and hurried towards the gardens. The Court had a large set of gardens – fitting, for the royal residence. It was mostly quiet at this time of night, and she knew the quietest spots in it. She ducked under weeping willow’s curtain of leaves. It was her favourite place in the whole of Court, a little nest away from the eyes of everyone else. She was the Princess Dragomir, and the eyes followed her everywhere – but not here.

She stopped short. There was someone else under her willow. He looked up, pushing his black hair out of his eyes and narrowing them at her.

“Sorry,” said Lissa. “I didn’t realise -”

“Princess Dragomir,” he said. “Didn’t expect to see you here. Aren’t you meant to be gossiping with the rest of the Council? Deciding how to get more dhampirs killed?”

Lissa flushed, her fists clenching. “I didn’t have anything to do with the age law, and you know it, Ozera.”

She hadn’t spoken to Christian Ozera in years. He had kept to himself in school, and she had left him to it. In all honesty, she was surprised he was at Court – she would have expected him to distance himself from the Moroi world as much as he could, after graduation – and especially after what had happened with his aunt.

“I bet you spent all of your first Council session fighting it, though,” said Christian. He widened his eyes in mock surprise. “Oh, wait, the Council was too busy bending over itself welcoming the lost lamb home, wasn’t it?”

“Look, I had nothing to do with the age law, and I had nothing to do with your aunt,” said Lissa. “Not that I _have_ to share my goals with you, but the King and I are working to repeal the age law, so if you want to go after anyone, it should be Nathan Ivashkov or Reece Taurus, not someone who’s on your side.”

Christian stared at her for a long moment then looked down. “You’re right. Fine. You’re not the problem with the system.”

“Thank you,” huffed Lissa. “Now, are you going to harass me all afternoon, or am I fine to stay?”

“You can stay, but -” Christian paused then continued, “Don’t you have that Ivashkov boyfriend? Shouldn’t you be with him after your first Council session? Seems like the kind of thing a boyfriend would want to celebrate.”

“He does,” said Lissa with a sigh. “There’s just not much worth celebrating. I haven’t done anything yet. I didn’t say two words in that session. There’s no point in celebrating being a royal if I can’t do anything with my status.” She smiled wistfully. “When I get the age law repealed, or legalise magical self-defence, then maybe we can throw a party. But until then, it’s just celebrating a terrible system.”

Christian half-smiled at her. “You know, you might actually be alright, Princess Dragomir.”

“Your approval means so much to me,” deadpanned Lissa, but she smiled all the same.

When she went back to her and Adrian’s apartment, the sun was already starting to crest on the horizon. She hadn’t meant to stay out so late. She hadn’t meant to talk to Christian for any longer than it took to apologise for disturbing him. And yet…

She pushed the door open, and Adrian jumped. Her eyes widened at the sight: he was by the stove, a pot on and boiling something. The counter was like a disaster zone, with too many mismatching ingredients to possibly be used for just one meal.

“Lissa!” exclaimed Adrian. “Shit, I -” He gestured at the mess. “I meant to make you dinner.”

Lissa smiled. It _was_ sweet of him, even if it had ended up a bit of a disaster. “We’ll get take out.”

“I made you something else,” said Adrian. “Something that I _didn’t_ fuck up.” He scurried to the other side of the room, where there was something waiting for Lissa that hadn’t been there when she had left that morning. A sheet covered a canvas, and Adrian pulled it off with a flourish.

It was a painting. A girl stood in a red dress, surrounded by purple and yellow. It was a beautiful painting, but…

“Is that me?” asked Lissa in confusion.

“Yeah!” said Adrian.

“But the painting has brown eyes,” said Lissa. The work was so impressionistic she was willing to forgive other differences between her and the girl in the painting, but the brown eyes seemed a bit too far from reality.

Adrian waved his hand dismissively. “It just worked better that way. Artistic licence.” He looked at her hopefully. “Do you like it?”

“Of course I do,” said Lissa, pulling him into a hug. “Thank you, Adrian.”

-

Lissa loved college. Really, she did. Her political science major was preparing her for her life on the Council, and her creative writing minor was keeping her sane through all her stresses. Still, that didn’t mean that lectures couldn’t drone on a bit.

God, Foucault was the _worst._

She sighed as she rested her head on her hand. Next to her, Serena smirked and whispered, “How do you think the rest of us feel?” She nodded minutely at her partner, Will Kavinsky, who was seated closest to the door, ready for any Strigoi.

Lissa smothered a grin and turned to look at the lecturer again. Her head snapped back. There was a girl there that she had seen before. Not in class – Lissa had gotten familiar with all of her classmates’ auras in the first few weeks of semester. This girl was new, and so was her yellow-and-purple aura. But Lissa _had_ seen that aura before somewhere, and recently, too.

She didn’t _look_ out of place. She was alternating between watching the lecturer and scribbling down notes, just like everyone else in the room. She was dressed nicely, but not too nicely for a college campus, and she hadn’t looked at Lissa once, as far as anyone had noticed. If she had spent too much time studying Lissa, then Serena or Will would have noticed. But Lissa was certain: she’d seen that girl before.

Well. Class had certainly gotten _much_ more interesting.

After her class ended, Lissa had an hour until her elective class on religion and folklore started. She and Serena headed to their preferred café on campus, Will following a safe distance behind. Lissa ordered a hot chocolate for herself and an espresso for Serena – her guardians needed all the help they could get, especially since they were personally interested in Lissa’s classes. Then she chose a seat by the window and waited.

The girl turned up, just like Lissa had known she would. Both Serena and Will looked up as the door opened, but their gazes seemed to glide right off her. She ordered herself a latte before settling down on the opposite side of the café, pulling out a book and beginning to read. The book was thick and well-worn, a hardcover with leaves of paper that weren’t quite all the same size. The girl ran her fingers over the words, mouthing something to herself. Her aura flared more purple than ever.

“Lissa?” asked Serena. “Everything alright?”

The girl was moving. She had put her book back in her bag, picked it up, and headed to the bathroom. Not anything unusual about it – maybe a little paranoid, since the only half-drunk coffee seemed to indicate she was coming back – but Lissa still got to her feet. “I just need a minute. I’ll be in the bathroom for a second, alright?”

“Alright,” said Serena, who would no doubt have her eyes glued to the bathroom door the whole time Lissa was gone.

The bathroom was empty when Lissa arrived. All the stalls were vacant and no one was at the washroom. Lissa turned to leave, wondering if spirit was starting to get to her, and ran straight into the girl. Lissa stifled a shriek before saying, “Sorry, I didn’t mean -”

“Lissa,” said the girl.

Lissa took a step back. “Who are you?”

“My name is Sydney Sage,” she said. “I’m here to help. Something’s _wrong_ , and I think you might be the only person who can do something about it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Lissa, taking another step back. “My guardians are just outside. They’ll know if -”

“I’m not with the Strigoi,” said Sydney. “Please, I know this is going to be a lot to believe, but if you’ll just hear me out for five minutes -”

“Hear _what_ out?” said Lissa.

“Adrian’s favourite food is raspberry slushie,” said Sydney. “I know that’s not even a food, but try telling him that. His favourite game is Monopoly, his favourite flower morning glories, his favourite song Shine On Your Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd.” Lissa stopped. Her thoughts raced ahead of her: _She’s making this up – but Adrian was listening to Pink Floyd just the other day –_ “He’s only broken one bone, when he was six and tripped down a set of stairs chasing a cat to pet,” continued Sydney.

“How do you know all of this?” whispered Lissa. “You’re _human._ ”

Sydney turned her head slightly, and light caught on her cheek. Silver glinted in the shape of a lily. “I’ve had some experience with Moroi.”

 _Alchemists had gold tattoos_ , thought Lissa. She didn’t know everything about the Alchemists, though, so instead she said, “But you know about _Adrian_ , not just the Moroi _._ How do you know so much about my boyfriend?”

Sydney’s face tightened, just a little, almost imperceptibly. “That’s what I need to talk to you about, Lissa – Y – Princess Dragomir.”

“My guardian is going to come in here eventually,” warned Lissa.

“We think that there’s some kind of mass compulsion,” said Sydney. “I was assigned to protect -” she hesitated “ – someone for the Moroi, with the help of a few guardians. One morning, they woke up, and they didn’t know why they were there, they didn’t remember anything that had happened over the past few months, they didn’t know me. I managed to get their memories back, but as far as any of us can tell, it’s affected every Moroi and dhampir out there.”

“I can’t be compelled like that,” said Lissa. “I’m a spirit user. I’m naturally resistant to compulsion.”

“Do you have a tattoo?” asked Sydney. She did. She had a dragon tattooed on to her shoulder, the symbol of her family. Sydney saw the confirmation in her eyes and pushed on. “Does Adrian?”

“Yes,” whispered Lissa.

“Sometimes, a tattoo can be used to reinforce compulsion,” said Sydney. She tapped the silver lily on her cheek and said, “Trust me. I’m very familiar with it.”

“I don’t have any reason to believe this,” said Lissa. “What you’re saying is _insane_ – compulsion over every Moroi and dhampir out there? The amount of power that would take to maintain would drive anyone mad.”

“You’re right,” said Sydney, grimly. “It would drive someone insane. It just won’t always be the spirit user.” She fished a phone out of her pocket. “Look,” she said, switching the screen on and holding it out to Lissa. The phone was already open to a camera roll of photos and Lissa swiped through it. There was Adrian, with his arm wrapped around a young girl Lissa didn’t know, kissing the top of her brown curls. One of Eddie Castile – Lissa hadn’t seen Eddie since she graduated – with Sydney and the girl, laughing.

Lissa stopped on the third photo. It was one of her, dressed as a fairy, arm in arm with another girl that Lissa had never met. The other girl had dark hair and tanned skin, and her face was turned away from the camera because she was saying something to Lissa. Lissa was laughing, her head thrown back. They were in matching costumes, both wearing fairy wings and both with liberal amounts of glitter scattered through their hair and over their skin.

“That was at Halloween last year,” said Sydney. “Rose sent the photo to Dimitri, and he shared it with Eddie, Jill and I.”

“I don’t - ” Lissa broke off. She didn’t understand any of this.

“We can fix this,” said Sydney. “But we need your help.”

Lissa swallowed hard and looked back up at Sydney. “My guardians won’t let me go anywhere.”

“That’s where I come in,” said Sydney. She rummaged through her bag and took out a piece of cloth tied around something that smelled of herbs, hanging from a long black cord. She handed it to Lissa and said, “Wear this around your neck and they won’t see you leave.”

Lissa took it dubiously. “I don’t see how a bunch of herbs is going to make me invisible.”

“You’ve got your tricks, I’ve got mine,” said Sydney. “Trust me. You don’t want to be using anymore spirit.” Lissa slid the black cord over her neck. She couldn’t see any difference, but Sydney nodded in approval.

 _This is a bad idea,_ thought Lissa. _You’ve never met this person in your life. She’s been stalking you, and now she’s taking you away from the guardians. She could be leading you into a trap._

But Lissa had so many questions, and not a single one of them could be explained by anyone other than Sydney Sage. So when Sydney left the café, Lissa followed.

-

When she was in the car with Sydney, Lissa waited until they had pulled out of the parking lot before she finally asked the obvious question. “How did you do that? Serena and Will didn’t even see me.”

“Magic,” said Sydney. “It’s not common, and it’s not intrinsic to us like it is for Moroi, but some humans can use magic, too. It’s the only reason I was able to get the others’ memories straightened up.”

“Who are the others?” asked Lissa.

“Eddie Castile,” said Sydney. “You know him, right? That didn’t get taken from you?”

“We both went to Saint Vladimir’s, yeah,” said Lissa. “Who else?”

“Jill,” said Sydney, looking at Lissa out of the corner of her eye. “Jill Mastrano. There’s more to it, but that’s definitely been taken from your memories. And Neil Raymond and Angeline Dawes, who are our other two guardians.”

“That’s a lot of guardians,” said Lissa. “You said that you were protecting someone. Who?”

“Jill,” said Sydney. “God, I shouldn’t have to be the one to tell you this. Jill’s an illegitimate child, but one with enough royal blood to be considered part of one of the royal families, and we had to keep her away from the rest of the Moroi population because without her, her family wouldn’t make quorum, and she was being targeted for it.”

There was only one royal family who was struggling to make quorum. “ _No_ ,” said Lissa. That was too far over the line. That was a lie. “You’re lying to me. Let me _out_ , let me go!” Lissa threw all the compulsion she had into the command, but Sydney didn’t even blink.

“Sorry,” said Sydney. “I can’t be compelled anymore. You’ll still want to see this, Your Highness.”

“My father would never have cheated on my mother,” seethed Lissa. “I don’t know what the _fuck_ you’re trying to do – you’re not even a real Alchemist, are you? Alchemist lilies are gold!”

Sydney smiled, very faintly. “You’re right. I’m not a real Alchemist. I haven’t been one for a while. But I’m not a real Alchemist anymore because I love your sister like she’s my own, and I would do _anything_ to keep her safe.” Sydney took a left turn into a suburban neighbourhood. The houses were run-down and the yards weren’t well-maintained. Lissa stared out the window, watching the beat-up cars pass them. “We can’t all afford luxury on the run, Your Highness,” said Sydney.

Sydney pulled into a small house on the end of the street. The front door opened and Eddie Castile appeared. Lissa unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. She couldn’t believe Eddie was in on this, whatever _this_ was. He had always been a good guy at school, kind and funny and clever. She never would have believed Eddie would do anything to hurt her.

“Eddie?” she said, tentatively.

He smiled. “Hey, Liss.”

“She doesn’t believe me,” said Sydney, getting out of the car herself. “She’s in denial over Jill.”

Eddie’s smile dropped. “What happened to Mason Ashford?” he asked.

“What? Eddie, didn’t he die in the attack?” said Lissa.

“He died in Spokane,” said Eddie. “What about sophomore and junior years? Where were you?”

“At school,” said Lissa, even as she tried to remember her sophomore year. The details seemed fuzzy – she had been repeating Elemental Basics, right? And she’d been dating Aaron – but hadn’t she broken up with Aaron by then?

“Were you?” said Eddie.

“Where else would I have been?” whispered Lissa.

Another face appeared at the door, a dhampir girl a few years younger than Lissa, with strawberry blonde hair and a serious expression. “Eddie, Jill needs you.”

Eddie didn’t pause to explain, and neither did Sydney. Eddie turned on his heel and half-jogged back into the house, while Sydney ushered Lissa inside. “It might be daylight, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe,” said Sydney. “Seriously, we’re not going to hurt you.”

Lissa followed Eddie down the short hallway into a bedroom. Eddie was crouching by a girl in the corner, her brown curls wild and askew. She was wrapped in his arms, and he pressed his lips to the top of her head, murmuring comforting nonsense. The girl startled as Lissa entered, trying to back up further into the corner, but there was nowhere to go.

“Jill,” said Sydney, softly. “We’ve got Lissa. We can fix this.” This _was her supposed sister?_ Lissa wondered, staring in amazement.

Jill shook her head, her movements jerky and sudden. “There’s no fixing this,” said Jill. “It’s over, it’s over, he’s won.”

“This isn’t you, Jill,” said Eddie. “Remember? It’s not you.” He looked back up at Sydney and asked, “Have you found anything yet?”

Sydney shook her head. “Bonds and spirit use aren’t understood by Moroi, let alone witches.” Eddie swore under his breath and kissed Jill’s forehead again.

Lissa knelt beside Jill, reaching out to touch the girl’s arm gently. She knew better than anyone that spirit didn’t cure mental illness, but she _wanted_ to, she wanted to help the helpless, desperate girl and give her some hope. Lissa’s magic shimmered, going from her hand to Jill, and Jill went still.

“Jill?” said Eddie, cautiously.

Jill looked up, her face still wet with tears. “Lissa?” she whispered.

“Hi,” said Lissa.

“What just happened?” asked Sydney.

“I think – I think I just healed her,” said Lissa, studying Jill’s face. Eddie’s arms tightened around Jill, and Jill reached up to wrap her hand around Eddie’s, smiling.

“The darkness is gone,” said Jill. “I can still feel him, but the darkness is gone.”

“Holy shit,” said Angeline, from the doorway.

“Language,” chastised Sydney without so much as looking over her shoulder. “Are you sure, Jill?”

“Yeah,” said Jill. Her face was regaining some colour. Without the tears and the fear, Lissa could see she was even very lightly tanned – she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen a Moroi who spent enough time in the sun to tan. Jill got to her feet, pulling Eddie with her, and kissed him soundly.

“Oi, lovebirds!” said Angeline. “Haven’t we got something more important to be doing?”

“Angeline,” chastised Sydney again, though there amusement in her voice.

Jill pulled away, looking very pleased with herself. “Nothing’s more important than kissing Eddie, but I guess we can work on other things, too.”

“Their first kiss was after staking a Strigoi,” said Angeline, to Lissa. “Nothing makes them more annoying than mortal danger.”

“Sydney claimed that you were my sister,” said Lissa.

Jill sighed. “I never thought I’d have to do this again – but, yes. My name is Jill Mastrano Dragomir, and I’m your sister.” Lissa stepped forward, inspecting Jill. Their hair was nothing alike, Jill’s brown and curly to Lissa’s blonde and straight, and the shape of their faces were different – but Jill’s eyes were Dragomir green, a pale green that Lissa had seen in her mirror a million times before.

“I need to hear everything,” decided Lissa. “Your whole story. Then I can decide whether I trust you.”

“Fair enough,” said Sydney. “I wouldn’t believe this without proof, either.”

They went to the kitchen, because Jill’s messy bedroom was no place to have a serious discussion. Angeline got herself a bag of chips from the cupboard and sat on the counter, while Sydney and Lissa sat at the table. Jill and Eddie hadn’t let go of each other and sat next to each other, their chairs dragged close together so that their shoulders brushed.

“Start from the beginning,” said Lissa.

Jill snorted and muttered, “Easier said than done.”

Sydney quelled Jill with a look and said, “It was a month ago now. Jill and the rest of us were all at Amberwood Preparatory School in Palm Springs – that’s where she’s been hidden.”

“Smart,” murmured Lissa. She couldn’t think of a place less welcoming for vampires, Moroi or Strigoi – except for maybe the Sahara Desert. It certainly explained Jill’s tan.

“We weren’t the only ones there,” said Sydney. “Adrian was also sent to Palm Springs, because he and Jill are bonded.”

Lissa stared at Jill. “Like – like Vladimir and Anna?”

“At least you remember that much,” muttered Eddie.

Sydney nodded. “Adrian was summoned back to Court. There was a Strigoi restored nearby, and they wanted all spirit users at Court to investigate.” _Olive Sinclair,_ remembered Lissa. The first Strigoi to ever be restored. It had been a miracle, one made by Robert Doru. “Back in Palm Springs, Eddie, Angeline and Neil all woke up with no memory of why they were in Palm Springs. None of them even knew each other, or that Jill was a princess. If I hadn’t been able to get hold of a memory charm, they would have stayed that way.”

“Even when Sydney was able to give our memories back, I could still tell what we were supposed to be ‘remembering’,” said Jill. “I could see it through the bond with Adrian. He thought that you were just about to get your place on the Council, and that you and he were _dating._ ” Jill’s face scrunched up in disgust.

“Why is that such a problem?” demanded Lissa hotly.

“Because you were seeing someone else,” said Eddie. “So was Adrian. You were friends before, nothing more.”

“You’re saying that my entire relationship was manufactured,” said Lissa, flatly. “That it’s just compulsion binding me to my boyfriend.” All four exchanged uncomfortable glances. It was clear that that was _exactly_ what they thought. Lissa pursed her lips and said, “Finish your story.”

“We got attacked by guardians the next day,” said Eddie. “We barely got away. They were coming for Jill. We thought at the time that they were rebels, but we’re not so sure now.”

“You have a bondmate,” explained Sydney. “Her name is Rose Hathaway. She was your best friend and guardian, and as far as we can tell, no one has seen her since the change.”

“What are you saying?” asked Lissa, slowly.

“We think that the spell was cast so that you and Adrian -” Sydney paused then said, “Do you know mobile phone towers? They spread reception for mobile phones in the area, allowing you to get reception. We think that – well, we think you’re the phone towers, and they’ve harnessed your spirit abilities to transmit the new memories.”

“What has this got to do with Jill and – and Rose?” asked Lissa.

“Have you been having any side effects from spirit use lately?” asked Sydney. “Has Adrian?”

Lissa thought back. She hadn’t felt any darkness, but she hadn’t been using enough spirit lately to feel it – had she? She had made some plants sprout flowers the other day, and when Adrian had gotten a paper cut she had healed him, and she had been practicing dream walking…

Okay, maybe she had used spirit a little too much to be feeling so few effects.

“It’s because the darkness has been pushed out of you on to your bondmates,” said Sydney, gently. “From Adrian to Jill and from you to Rose. We think that’s why they wanted Jill, and why they’ve taken Rose – to keep them under observation.”

“What do these people want?” asked Lissa. “You keep saying that they’ve changed our memories, but from what?”

Again, there was a round of uncomfortable looks. It was Eddie who eventually responded. “It was Victor Dashkov and his half-brother,” he said eventually. “He used it to make himself king.”

“What?” said Lissa. “Why wouldn’t he have been king? He’s the most obvious choice after Tatiana died, unless you’re saying he actually murdered and _then_ changed our memories.”

“No,” said Eddie. “Tatiana really did die last year. She really was assassinated by Tasha Ozera. But Dashkov was never an option in the elections, because he was never in the running.”

“If he wanted to be king so badly, then why didn’t he just run in the elections, fair and square?” asked Lissa.

“Because he couldn’t,” said Eddie. His voice was so gentle that it made Lissa’s hackles rise, knowing that there was bad news coming. “He was stripped of his titles and royal status for kidnapping and torturing you into healing him.”

Lissa froze. “My uncle would never do that to me.”

“Lissa, I’m sorry, but -”

“No,” interrupted Lissa, cutting Eddie off. “You’re lying. My uncle would _never_ do that. He wouldn’t even have to! I’d heal him, no questions asked. What you’re saying makes no sense. You’re lying.” She stared around at the others. “You’re all lying.”

Angeline rolled her eyes. “Oh, for fuck’s sake -”

“Lissa, please -” started Sydney.

It was Jill, though, that got Lissa’s attention. “Look at my aura.” Lissa looked, letting her aura vision flare into life. Jill’s aura was a warm blue, mixed in with greens and purples, with a shadow outlining it. “You can see that my aura is connected to something, right? Follow that link.”

Lissa followed it. She grasped the link and pulled at it, looking for the other end. A second aura flared, gold and purple and pieces of black scattered through it. Lissa _knew_ that aura. She was seeing a shadow of Adrian Ivashkov in Jill’s aura. Lissa gasped, and dropped the link.

“I’m Adrian’s bondmate,” said Jill. “I’m your sister. I’m not lying about those things, and you can tell that. We’re not lying about anything else, either.”

Lissa didn’t know what to think. Jill’s paternity and bond were undeniable – but everything else was so far out of the realm of possibility that they couldn’t _possibly_ be true. Her uncle would never hurt her. She had never met anyone named Rose. And she _knew_ her own feelings.

“Take me back,” said Lissa.

Sydney hesitated, and Angeline opened her mouth to protest, but Eddie said, “I should be the one to take you back. It’ll be dark by the time you get to campus.” He glanced at Sydney and said, “Neil should be back any minute. You and Angeline can handle things till then, right?”

“I’m right here,” muttered Jill, as Sydney nodded.

Eddie stood up, catching the keys when Sydney tossed them to him. “Come on, Lissa.”

The drive back to Leigh was quiet. When they pulled into the slip lane that led on to campus, Eddie said, “I know everything sounds insane. Seriously, I do. I’ve been there, remember? I had Jill and Sydney telling me all these things that morning that I had no memory of. But I swear, Lissa, it’s all true.”

Lissa blinked back tears stinging at her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”

“Please, just -” Eddie sighed. “Look into Rose. She was at Spokane, too, when Mason died, and I always said I’d take care of her, you know? And now she’s missing, and there’s not a goddamn thing I can do about it.”

There was a surprising amount of self-loathing in his voice. Lissa couldn’t do anything but nod.

Eddie watched from a distance as Lissa made her way back to the café. Serena was still there, but Will had gone – was looking for her, presumably. Serena was pacing furiously, but the moment she saw Lissa, she ran to Lissa’s side, checking her over carefully.

“Where were you?” demanded Serena.

“I… just needed some time to myself,” said Lissa. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

When Lissa turned to look, Eddie and the car were gone.

-

She didn’t say anything to anyone.

 _I should tell someone_ , she thought, over and over again. There was a witch that could just waltz in under the guardians’ noses, and God only knew what she wanted. It was a security risk, one that they couldn’t risk.

“You’re acting strange,” said Christian, one afternoon. He propped himself on his arm, staring at her accusingly. They were back under the willow, their shared place of quiet, with Lissa nestled in its roots and Christian lazing on the grass beside her.

“No, I’m not,” said Lissa, automatically.

“Yes, you are,” said Christian. “You’re thinking too much. Even I can tell it’s a bad sign.”

Lissa narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you saying that I’m empty-headed most of the time?”

“That’s not what I’m saying and you damn well know it,” said Christian. “Spill it, Dragomir.”

Lissa hesitated, then without even deciding to, the whole story came pouring out. “I met these people at Leigh the other day…”

Christian listened from beginning to end. He didn’t interrupt to ask questions, like Adrian might have, just let her clarify herself as the story went on. When she finished, he blew out a long stream of air and said, “That is _definitely_ not why I thought you went missing.”

“Why did you think I went missing?” asked Lissa. He made it sound like there was some kind of conspiracy going on.

Christian shrugged. “Don’t know. Just knew that you weren’t being honest about the whole ‘needing space’ thing.” He thought for a moment then said, “So Adrian doesn’t know anything, huh?”

“I haven’t told him _everything_ , but I’ve asked about Palm Springs and he said he’d never been, and I’ve mentioned the name Jill Mastrano to him and he doesn’t even blink,” said Lissa. “Trust me, he isn’t that good a liar. He doesn’t know anything.”

“But you know they’re bonded because you followed the bond in their auras,” mused Christian. “Have you tried doing that yourself?”

Lissa blinked. “What?”

“Well, they said you’re bonded with someone, right?” said Christian. “If you can follow a bond between two other people’s auras, why not your own?”

Lissa nodded slowly. “It… might work.” She held her arm up and summoned her aura, the shimmering gold surrounding her arm. She could see the link, and she closed her eyes as she tried to follow it back to its source. All she could feel was darkness. What if there was nothing at the other end? What if there was, and she couldn’t make contact? She still hadn’t managed dream-walking. _No,_ she thought, pushing the doubts away. _I’m doing this._ She pressed further, focusing on the image of the dark-haired fairy making Lissa laugh.

_Lissa?_

Lissa jumped. Christian said something, but she wasn’t listening. _Rose? Is that you?_

_Holy shit, Lissa! Are you okay? How are you doing this?_

_I’m… okay_ , thought Lissa. _I followed the link between our auras to you. Are you okay?_

 _I’ve been better,_ said Rose. There was a pause, then, _You still don’t remember me, do you?_

_You know about that?_

_Are you kidding? Your head is a far more pleasant place to be than my own recently. I’ve been watching. I know your memories have been fucked with. Like everyone’s._ There was a clear note of misery in her voice, impotent fury mixed with hopelessness.

_I’m sorry._

_It’s not your fault._

_Who’s is it?_ asked Lissa, half-dreading the answer.

 _Hang on, let me try something,_ thought Rose. Before Lissa could ask what, she was assaulted with a series of images and memories: a pressure bearing down on Lissa’s skull as Victor watched on impassively; Natalie – poor Natalie, who’d been killed by a Strigoi in their senior year – as a Strigoi herself with blood drying on her lips; Christian being thrown against the wall, the fire in his hands winking out, as Victor Dashkov swept into the throne room with Robert Doru on his heels.

Lissa gasped, her hands flying to her head. She clutched at her temples, doubling over. At once, Christian was at her side, his hands gentle on her shoulders. “Are you okay? Lissa, can you hear me?”

 _Sorry_ , said Rose. _Is that Christian? Figures you’d find him again, in your own little quiet place._

_You know him?_

_Yeah,_ said Rose. _I know that was a lot to take in, Liss. I didn’t realise it’d hurt._

 _It’s okay,_ said Lissa. _If you hadn’t shown me, I don’t think I would have…_

Her own _uncle._ The man who had taken her in after her family’s death. The man who had fought to give her back her rightful place on the Council – or had he even done that? Was that a lie, too? She already had quorum through Jill, back _before_ the memory change, if Jill and the others were telling the truth.

_Her uncle._

_Yeah,_ thought Rose, heavy with sympathy. _I know._

 _Do you think I’ll ever get my memories back?_ asked Lissa. _Do you think any of us will?_

 _I don’t know,_ said Rose. _I hope so._

_Rose?_

_Yeah?_

_I’m going to find you._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Upgraded this to a threeshot, because apparently I don't know when to stop.

They talked until Rose fell asleep. It was an odd time to be sleeping, but Lissa wasn’t going to argue with the girl currently imprisoned in an unknown location about her sleeping patterns. Lissa yawned and stretched as Rose’s presence faded from her mind.

“How long has it been?” she asked.

“About an hour and a half,” said Christian.

“What? You didn’t have to stay,” said Lissa. “Surely you had better things to do than sit around and watch me.”

“Better things than a magical conspiracy to get your apparently-abusive uncle on the Moroi throne?” asked Christian. “Seriously?” Lissa rolled her eyes, huffing, and Christian smiled. “So you reached her?”

Lissa nodded. “I still don’t remember, but…” She paused, not sure how to phrase it. “She knows me. Perfectly. She knows how to make me laugh and she knows how to comfort me. It’s like there was this part of me missing, and now she’s back.”

“So it’s all real,” said Christian, leaning back and resting his weight on his arms. “Holy shit. This is _huge._ ”

“She showed me memories of what really happened,” said Lissa. “Natalie didn’t actually die in a Strigoi attack, you know? She willingly _turned_ Strigoi to get Victor out of prison.”

“Christ,” muttered Christian. “And he ostracises _me_ for my parents.”

“I don’t know what to tell Adrian,” murmured Lissa, mostly to herself.

“Look, I don’t want to be a dick,” said Christian, and held up his hands when Lissa raised her eyebrows at him. “But are you _certain_ he’s not in on it? I mean, he’s your boyfriend in this new reality, and he’s a spirit user… It might be dangerous to tell him.”

Lissa shook her head. “Jill would have been able to tell, and when I mentioned Adrian to Rose, she laughed for, like, five minutes straight and said she couldn’t believe that we’d lasted this long, post-compulsion.”

“Rose doesn’t like him?”

“No, she does,” said Lissa. “Actually, she dated him for a while, apparently. But apparently Tatiana wanted us to get together back when she was alive, and Rose thought it was hysterical that Victor had gotten Tatiana what she wanted.”

Christian went quiet before finally saying, “If Dashkov has changed so many memories to make himself seem like the good king – are we sure that he didn’t have a hand in Tatiana’s death?”

Lissa’s heart ached for him. He had lost his parents to monsters and his aunt to prison, and the rest of his family to prejudice. She wished she had one good bit of news for him about Natasha Ozera. She reached out and took his hand. “I’m so sorry, Christian,” she said. “I didn’t think to ask. Next time, it’ll be the very first thing I ask.”

“Thanks,” said Christian, softly, before clearing his throat. “So. What do we do next?”

“I guess I need to get back in contact with Jill and the others,” mused Lissa. “But Victor might be watching me now after my disappearance, just in case. Disappearing again will _definitely_ be suspicious.”

“I can go,” offered Christian. “Nobody watches me. Where are they?”

“They’re in Bethlehem, maybe ten minutes from campus? They were on a cul-de-sac called Black Street, at the very end.”

Christian nodded to himself. “If you give me some time, I can probably work out where that is,” he said. “I can borrow a car and head out there, and call you when I’m out there?”

“I’ll have to be alone,” said Lissa. “We’ll have to choose a time for you to go when I’m not in meetings.”

“Hey, Liss -”

Lissa looked up. Adrian had ducked under the willow’s leafy curtain and had stopped short at the sight. Lissa snatched her hand back from Christian and got to her feet. “Adrian,” she said, reaching out.

He stepped out of reach. “Who is this?”

Christian got to his feet. “Christian Ozera,” he said, offering his hand. “I’ve been helping Princess Dragomir with some things.” Adrian didn’t take his hand, just stared at Christian.

“Just go,” sighed Lissa. “I’ll see you later.” Christian cast one last worried look between Lissa and Adrian before he left.

“You know,” said Adrian, “when your girlfriend starts disappearing for hours on end after a life-changing event, you think, ‘it’s okay, she just needs some space’. But when you find out she’s spending those hours holding hands with another guy…”

“It’s not -” Lissa bit her lip. “Look, Adrian, there’s something you don’t know. It’s not about Christian, but he’s been helping me with it.”

“What?” demanded Adrian. “What is it that’s so important that you’re going to Christian Ozera about it but haven’t breathed a word of it to your boyfriend?”

Lissa thought about Jill and Eddie and Sydney. _“Because you were seeing someone else. So was Adrian.”_ She thought of the way Eddie and Jill hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other after Jill was stabilised, their hands always joined or their shoulders always touching, a simple reassurance that they still had each other. She thought of Rose, and the way things simply clicked into place the moment they spoke. She thought of how easy it was to tell Christian about what had happened, but how she couldn’t seem to get her words straight when talking to Adrian.

She thought of the painting, and the only girl Lissa had ever met with brown eyes and a purple and yellow aura.

“Do you love me?” asked Lissa, finally.

“What the hell kind of question is that, Liss?” asked Adrian.

“It’s an honest one,” said Lissa. “Because I think you know, deep down, that your painting was never of me.”

Adrian scoffed. “I can’t believe this – you’re accusing _me_ of cheating, now?”

“No,” said Lissa. “I think you’ve been a perfectly fine boyfriend, sweet and caring and funny. But I also think that you were never meant to be mine. Do you love me?”

Adrian stared at her for several long moments. Finally, he whispered, “No.”

“I didn’t think so,” said Lissa. “You’re my friend, Adrian – one of the best I’ve ever had – but I don’t love you, either.”

Adrian dragged his hand across his face, his shoulders slumped. “What are we going to do now?”

“You’re going to sit down,” said Lissa, gently. “Because I have something very important I need to tell you, and it’s going to change your life.”

-

It was dark in her cell. It always was. Whoever had built this thing, they had taken inspiration from the dungeons of the old country. Rose was willing to bet that at the old Royal Court, back in Romania, there had been a cell just like this. There would be a couple of differences, of course – the lighting would _actually_ be candlelight, not just dim fluorescent bulbs shaped to look like candles – but it would have the same feel to it.

Rose gritted her teeth and sat up, swinging her feet over the edge of the bed. Victor Dashkov watched her from the other side of the bars, and she lunged.

“Let me out, you son a bitch!” she snarled, pressing herself up against the bars. Victor neatly stepped back, out of reach. “You think you’re safe? You think I won’t get you? I broke you out of Tarasov. I broke out of Court. I broke out of a fucking Strigoi share house, and I will get out of here and I will fucking _flay you._ ”

“Charming,” said Victor, dryly. “Robert?”

Robert stepped forward. “Stay where you are,” he ordered.

“Like hell I will, you -” Rose stopped as the compulsion began to work. Robert reached out and touched her hand. At once, the darkness fell away, and Rose took a step back, glaring at Victor as ferociously as she could. Behind him was Dimitri, his arms crossed, face impassive.

“Are we able to talk reasonably now?” inquired Victor.

“We can talk reasonably when you stop using my boyfriend as a puppet and my best friend as your lynchpin,” said Rose. “So, you know, ball’s in your court.”

“Vasilisa went missing this week,” said Victor. “I assume you know all about that.”

“Yeah, she went to clear her head,” said Rose. “She gets like this sometimes. Hell, you spent months purposely _driving_ her to be like this. You should know it better than anyone.”

“Yes, and that time, she was stalked for several months _and_ was dealing with the effects of spirit,” said Victor. “That isn’t the case this time. She’s having a perfectly lovely life and you’re taking all of the darkness.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “You realise that not everything is spirit, right? Hell, we don’t even know if it’s a chicken or the egg situation: is Lissa a spirit user because she was already experiencing mental instability, or is her depression the result of having spirit in the first place?”

“You’re rambling,” said Victor.

“Look, as far as she’s concerned, she just got back her Council seat, and she’s scared she’s not going to live up to her title,” said Rose. “And after what _you_ did to her – that kind of thing literally changes brain chemistry. She’s _scared of you,_ even if she can’t remember that she is. It was all bubbling up, and she freaked out and went off by herself for a few hours – in daylight, so it wasn’t exactly suicidal or anything.”

“Bad things can happen in the daylight, as you are very well aware,” said Victor.

Rose sneered. “Look at you. It’s almost like you _care._ ”

“I do care,” said Victor. “I always have. But one life cannot come before the entire Moroi world. Just look at how Vasilisa was struggling before – she couldn’t keep the Council in order, let alone the rebels. It’s better for everyone this way.”

“Just so we’re clear,” said Rose, “nothing I said before was the spirit darkness talking. I _will_ flay you when I get out of here, and I will.”

“Of course, Rosemarie,” said Victor, with a condescending smile. Rose considered lunging again, but it wasn’t going to get her anywhere, and she didn’t want her reward for good behaviour taken away. Victor nodded at Robert and on cue, Dimitri stepped forward, his movements robotic. Then the blank expression fell away and he slumped as he regained control of his body.

“Dimitri!” cried Rose, reaching for him.

He didn’t waste time going after Victor and Robert. They’d been through this rodeo more than once, and they both knew of the invisible wall Robert was holding up between him and them. Instead, he ran the final few steps, taking her hands.

It was never enough, being separated by the bars. She couldn’t hold him, and nothing they shared would matter the moment Robert retook control. She couldn’t even tell him anything _real_ , because she knew Robert had to be quizzing him the moment they left about if she had given him any coded messages.

But he was _her_ Dimitri, if only for a few moments.

“Roza,” whispered Dimitri, peppering what he could reach of her face with kisses. “How are you?”

“Better now that you’re here,” she said, smiling through her tears. “The darkness isn’t too bad now.” _And Lissa knows._ She couldn’t say anything, but for the first time in over a month, she had hope.

“I wish I could do more for you,” said Dimitri.

“You’re alive,” said Rose. “You’re alive, and you’re here. I can survive a lot of things to know that you and Lissa are safe.”

“I love you,” said Dimitri. “This can’t last forever. We’ll get out of this somehow, I swear to you.”

(Over Dimitri’s shoulder, she could just see Victor roll his eyes. She ignored him.)

“We’ve beaten worse odds, comrade,” said Rose. She squeezed his hands. “I mean, we’re both the very definition of impossible. We’ll do it again.”

“One minute,” said Victor.

Dimitri held Rose’s hand tighter, cramming in even closer to the bars. “Don’t give up. Jill, Eddie and Sydney are still out there, and if there’s anyone who can pull this off, it’s them.”

Rose nodded. “I love you, comrade,” she whispered. “We’ll be together again one day.”

“I love you, too, Roza,” said Dimitri, and he kissed her. Rose pushed closer, even knowing that it couldn’t last –

And it didn’t. Dimitri’s lips went slack under hers and he pulled away, his face blank. Rose fell back, blinking her tears back furiously. She didn’t watch him back away. She turned and sat back down on her sorry excuse for a bed, staring at the opposite wall. “I’m going to kill you, Dashkov,” she said, her voice perfectly even.

“If you say so,” said Victor.

Rose sat in silence for a full five minutes after the last sounds of their footsteps had faded before she finally spoke again. “We’re going to get out of this.”

Nina didn’t respond. Nina hadn’t responded in weeks. Rose couldn’t really blame her – she had done the near-impossible with spirit and restored her sister’s soul, and then days later, her magic had been hijacked to help compel the Moroi world into submission. Even if they all got out of this, even if Nina ever recovered, Rose didn’t think she would ever stop having nightmares about listening to Nina’s descent into madness, just a set of steel bars and a brick wall away.

Sonya, though, was still talking to Rose. They had agreed that it was down to a number of things: her restoration had also seen a complete reset on the spirit darkness, and while Sonya had been using spirit ever since, she had never done anything as monumental as Nina had done. Even Sonya was beginning to struggle, though. “Soon,” she crooned. “Soon, soon, soon.”

Rose closed her eyes, trying to pretend that her bed was a little more comfortable and she was still in her apartment, still waking up beside Dimitri each morning, still spending her days with Lissa, still free –

Sonya dissolved into high-pitched, hysterical laughter. Rose opened her eyes. There was no pretending here.

-

Someone was banging on the door. Lissa yawned and pulled herself off the couch, but Adrian beat her to it, opening the door.

“You’re still here,” said Christian, glancing past Adrian. His eyes fell on her.

“Yup,” said Adrian. “On the couch now, but we can’t let Dashkov know that we’re, you know -” He waved his hand to indicate the world at large.

“I remember,” said Christian. He was still looking at Lissa, only at Lissa. His eyes were very, very blue. “Sydney started gathering the spell parts the moment you left. She’s got it ready for anyone else we take to her – but I remember.”

Lissa’s heart leapt. Here was someone she _knew_ – not a stranger following her, not a voice in her head, not a half-forgotten friend from high school – that remembered. A piece of proof that she hadn’t had before.

“Seriously?” said Adrian. “You remember everything?”

“Yeah, I -” Christian finally dropped his gaze, rubbing the back of his neck. “Fuck, I’d go after Dashkov right now, if I could – the things that fucker has done, he _deserves_ barbecuing. But all of it’s true – Rose, Jill, all of it.”

Lissa’s mind raced. “We need to get out there and get our memories back,” said Lissa. “We need to know _everything._ ”

“If we can, we should take Dimitri,” said Christian. When Lissa and Adrian both cocked their heads, looking at him in confusion, he elaborated, “Dimitri Belikov. Dashkov’s got him as a royal guardian. I have no idea how to get him out there with us, but once we get his memories back, we can trust him. He’s my guardian, Rose’s boyfriend, and your friend, Lissa.”

“You know us,” said Lissa. “Not just after everything changed. You know me and you know Rose. How?” Christian’s eyes darted to Adrian, hesitating. _You were seeing someone else_ , Eddie had said. “…Oh.”

Adrian caught on and snorted. “ _Of_ course.”

Lissa snatched her purse off the table. “We’re going to get our memories back right now.”

“What? Liss, they’ll know you’ve left,” said Christian.

“I don’t care!” cried Lissa. “I’m sick of everyone knowing more about my life than I do. I have a sister I can’t even remember! A best friend who’s been locked away somewhere and I can’t tell you what her favourite colour is! I want to know who I am, and so fucking help me Christian Ozera, I _will._ ”

Christian’s eyes were wide, then, slowly, he smiled. He held out his hand. “Let’s go.” She took his hand tentatively. It was warm against her palm.

“Come on, Adrian,” said Lissa, looking over her shoulder. Adrian grabbed his wallet and phone and followed.

Lissa reached out along the bond, feeling for Rose. _I’m going to remember you_ , she thought determinedly. _Then I’m going to come find you, and we’ll take out Victor Dashkov once and for all._

 _Knock ‘em dead, Liss,_ said Rose. The impression of a smile came across the bond. _I can’t believe_ Sydney _has magic. She called me an evil creature of the night the first time we met, you know. Said I was unnatural._

_Really?_

_Oh, yeah. The Alchemists are really big on the ‘vampires are evil’ schtick. Palm Springs has really changed her._

The drive to Sydney’s house was quiet. Rose talked to Lissa the whole way, telling stories about Sydney, Eddie and Jill. _I’ve only met Angeline once_ , Rose said. _She tried to beat me up. Little bitch pulled my hair and everything._

 _And we chose her for my sister’s guardian?_ Lissa thought sceptically.

 _Oh, yeah,_ said Rose. _She’s a good kid._

_If you say so._

Sydney was the one to open the door. Her eyes widened.

“They want their memories back now,” said Christian.

“O – Of course,” said Sydney, opening the door wide enough for them to enter. Her eyes flicked to Adrian and away again so quickly Lissa wondered if she had imagined it. “Head into the kitchen. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

Jill was in the kitchen, munching on an apple and chatting with Angeline as they entered. At the sight of them, Jill leapt to her feet and threw herself into Adrian’s arms before any of them could so much as say anything. “Sorry,” she said. “I know you don’t remember me, but I’ve missed you so _much_ , don’t ever leave me again, you idiot -”

“You’re Jill?” asked Adrian, interrupting the stream of words. Jill nodded tearfully.

Sydney entered the room, two bundles in her hands. “Lissa, we’ll start with you, if you don’t mind.”

 _It’s okay, Lissa,_ said Rose. _She’s not going to hurt you._

Lissa nodded. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.” She took the offered bundle from Sydney. Like the last one, it smelt of herbs, though as she peered into the cloth bag, she could see crystal quartz and stones of amber.

Sydney started speaking, and Lissa vaguely recognised Latin, but then she wasn’t listening anymore because _Rose throwing her notebook at the teacher, screaming, “Fascist bastard!” – “I love pity parties. I wish I’d brought hats.” – “I’ve trained to be your shadow, but you know what? I want to come first!” – “I do love you. Very much.” – Avery screaming, screaming, screaming – pushing the stake into Dimitri’s chest and the life that burned between them, golden and beautiful –_

When she came to, she was looking at Christian. His eyes were wide and hopeful. “Oh my god,” whispered Lissa, before she fell into his arms.

“Lissa, Lissa, my Lissa,” said Christian. She kissed him, pulling him close, warm and _real_ in a way that Adrian had never been. But he wasn’t the only one she had remembered, so she pulled away after only a few moments.

_Rose?_

_Lissa!_

_Rose,_ thought Lissa, tears pricking at her eyes. _I remember. I remember you. God, I’ve missed you so much._

 _I love you, too,_ thought Rose. _I didn’t get to say before – well, before. But I love you. You’re my sister, Liss._

 _And you’re mine_ , thought Lissa. _Just as much as Jill. I’m coming for you, Rose. I’ll find you, and then we’re going to take back my throne and take down Victor once and for all._

_I’ll count the seconds._

Sydney guzzled a glass of juice before eating a cookie that Jill handed her. “Magic drains blood sugar,” she explained. “I just need a minute.”

“Are you sure you’re fine for a second go?” asked Jill anxiously.

“I am,” said Sydney, fiercely. “I’ll be fine.” She glanced around and said, “Do you mind if Adrian and I were alone, for his memories?”

Lissa cast a confused look at Sydney, but before anyone could ask any questions, Jill chirped, “Absolutely! Come on, Lissa, Christian!” She grabbed them by the wrists and dragged them out of the kitchen into the small backyard that clearly hadn’t seen much maintenance over the years. Angeline followed, pulling the door shut behind them.

“What was that, Jill?” asked Christian.

“Just trust me on this. They’re going to want to be alone.”

-

Sydney’s hands were still a little shaky, but she didn’t let that stop her. She handed Adrian the amulet and smiled reassuringly at him.

“This still feels unreal to me,” said Adrian.

“I know,” said Sydney. “But you’ll remember in a minute.”

Adrian closed his eyes, swallowed, and nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Do it.”

 _Oh, Adrian,_ she thought. He was being so brave. He was so good, and strong, and he didn’t even know half of it yet. She spoke the spell. Adrian shuddered with his whole body, his legs almost giving out. His eyes opened and he stumbled.

Sydney caught him, catching hold of his hips and sliding her hands around to the small of his back. “Hey,” she said. “You’re back. You’re here.”

His eyes locked on to hers. “Sage,” he breathed.

“Yeah,” she said, blinking back tears. “It’s me.”

“You found me,” said Adrian, his arms sliding around her and resting his forehead against hers. “The entire Moroi world against you, and you still brought me home to you.”

“We’re the centre,” she reminded him. “We are the centre, and the centre has held.”

He lifted his hand, brushing it lightly against her cheek. She shivered under his touch. “Your lily,” he said in wonder.

She touched it anxiously, her fingers brushing against his. “Marcus said that this could happen, but I never thought it would happen this quickly. He thinks it might be because of all the magic I used getting Eddie, Angeline and Neil’s memory back, and getting Jill out of there.”

“What about Zoe?”

“She went back to the Alchemists,” said Sydney. “They’re trying to work out what’s going on from their end. I only talk to them over the phone, so they don’t even know about the lily yet.”

“Escape plan two hundred and eighty-four,” said Adrian. “Live here, pretending that we’re still working on it.”

Sydney laughed briefly, before she calmed into a sad smile. “You know that we can’t leave them like that.”

“I know,” said Adrian, matching her sad smile with one of his own. “You saved me, Sydney. You keep saving me, over and over.”

“Hey, you’re not so bad yourself,” said Sydney. “You saved me from the Alchemists. Without you, I might never have gotten out of that tiny, narrow mindset. You’ve made me who I am, Adrian Ivashkov.” She smiled, leaning closer, so close that the space between them was nearly non-existent. She just wanted to touch him, to make sure that he was _real_ and _hers_ again, her Adrian. “My flame in the dark.”

“That’s my line,” breathed Adrian, then he was kissing her. She pushed herself closer again, her hand splayed out against the small of his back. The hand that had been on her cheek slid back, tangling into the hair at the nape of her neck, sending tremors through her. Kissing Adrian was always magic in its own right, an enchantment Sydney never wanted to stop casting. She kissed him again and again and again, only ever breaking for the moment it took to breathe.

Finally, when her lips were swollen and he looked very thoroughly kissed, Sydney said, “I always thought that if one of us was dragged away, it’d be me.”

“That’s never going to happen,” promised Adrian, his breathing heavy. “I’m never leaving you again, Sage.”

Sydney smiled, simple, uncomplicated joy working its way across her face. “I’ll hold you to that one.”

“Is it safe?” called Jill, cautiously.

“It’s safe,” said Sydney. Jill flew back into the kitchen, slamming into Adrian and throwing her arms around him. He picked her up and spun her around, making her shriek with laughter. Angeline, Lissa and Christian followed her in, but Sydney couldn’t bring herself to move further away from Adrian, not after everything.

“What do you think, Dawes?” asked Adrian as he set Jill down. “Still too pretty to be useful?”

“Well,” said Angeline, drawing the word out, “you still haven’t actually done anything useful yet.”

Adrian clapped his hand over his heart with exaggerated despair. “You wound me, Angeline. You wound me.” Angeline rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, unable to hide her delight.

“Eddie and Neil are working,” said Jill, drawing everyone’s attention. “We need the money to pay the rent. Neil’s shift should be ending any minute, though, and Eddie’s not too long after that. They never take night shifts.”

“If we’re going to take on Victor, we’ll need all the guardians we can get,” mused Lissa.

“If Lissa and I were the anchors for the compulsion, will us regaining our memories have broken the compulsion?” asked Adrian. He glanced around the room and added, “I guess we can’t really test it.”

Christian pulled out his phone. “Oh, ye of little faith,” he said. “I thought of this.” He dialled a number and held it to his ear. “Hey, Mia? This is going to be a weird question, but what do you think of Victor Dashkov? …Okay, thanks.” He hung up and looked at the rest of them. “It’s still going.”

“We’ll have to take Robert out,” said Lissa. “He’s who it’s coming from; he’ll just be using us for the added power. If we can break the compulsion on his end – well, that’s a lot easier than tracking every Moroi and dhampir in the world down and getting Sydney to cast her memory charm.”

“Well, if we’re going to march on the castle or something, I should take some charms anyway,” said Sydney. “If we could break the compulsion on some people we know are loyal to you – like Dimitri – that would be better then taking each of them down, especially since there’s only three guardians among us.”

“We can get us all back into Court through compulsion,” said Lissa. “If you have any silver around, that would be easier than actively changing your appearance. Then we find Rose – that’s four guardians, plus anyone who’s guarding her. Unless they were part of Victor’s rebellion from the beginning, they’ll be duty bound to follow me one we’ve restored their memories.”

“Is she even at Court?” asked Christian.

“She says she is,” said Lissa. “She says that Victor visits too frequently for him to be leaving Court.”

“Alright,” said Sydney. “We need a plan – a good one. Somehow, I don’t think we’ll get a second chance.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I end up pushing the amount of chapters back with every update, lmao. This fic got away from me a little bit.

They had to wait till morning. Jill couldn’t come with them to Court, and no one was willing to leave her alone at night. Angeline would be staying with her, when they left, but Angeline and Jill alone were still no match for a Strigoi.

Lissa didn’t comment when Adrian and Sydney vanished for hours on end. She had seen the painting; she didn’t know precisely what was happening between them, but anything strong enough to sneak past the compulsion wasn’t something she was going to argue with. Besides, she remembered Adrian as he had been, that month between Rose getting back together with Dimitri and Jill going into hiding. Anything that lifted that cloud of hopelessness and depression was fine in her book.

When Rose had put it together, her loud, echoing laughter in Lissa’s head had been enough to give her a headache. _She called him cute!_ Rose had howled. _After Las Vegas, Sydney called him cute for an evil creature of the night! Oh my god, this is the best thing ever._ Then, a moment later, with even more laughter in her voice, _I said that they looked good together at Sonya and Mikhail’s wedding! Fuck, do you think it was going on even then? Oh my_ god.

Instead, Lissa found herself curled up on the couch next to Jill. She and Jill hadn’t ever had much of a chance to talk: first Rose had been shot, then Lissa had been made queen, and then Jill had been sent into hiding. It had all made for excellent excuses for a girl who was too overwhelmed with a political crisis to even begin contemplating a personal one. Now, though, they had hours stretching out before them in a quiet house.

“How did that happen?” asked Lissa, nodding at Eddie, who was chatting with Neil and Christian on the other side of the living room. “Not that I’m saying _no_ , or anything – Eddie’s a good guy.”

“He is,” said Jill, affection dripping from her words. “There was a Halloween dance at Amberwood, actually. He spent so long doing the strong, stoic guardian act -”

“Pulling a Dimitri,” put in Lissa.

Jill snorted. “Pulling a Dimitri,” she agreed. “Anyway, we were all dressed up for the party – he just had a Phantom of the Opera mask on, that was his entire costume – and he called me ‘Your highness’ and bowed, but it was _funny_ , not just duty, and I…”

Lissa smiled. “I haven’t seen him like that for a long time,” said Lissa. “Not since -”

“Spokane,” finished Jill. “He doesn’t talk about it much, but I know he misses Mason like nothing else.”

Lissa’s gaze drifted off. They all missed Mason, in their own ways. Lissa couldn’t claim to miss him like Eddie and Rose missed him, but he had been the first friend she had ever lost to the Strigoi, though certainly not the last. With the events of Spokane, Strigoi had gone from some distant, hypothetical – though still terrifying – threat to the monsters that haunted her best friend’s nightmares, with names and faces.

“He told me to look for Rose, when he dropped me back at Leigh,” said Lissa. “Because he’d sworn to look out for her ever since Spokane, and now he couldn’t do anything about it.”

“That sounds like him,” said Jill, softly.

Lissa sat up a little straighter as she remembered something. “Angeline said you two had your first kiss after staking a Strigoi. What the hell was that about?”

Jill went bright red and started stuttering, but she was (luckily for her, since Lissa had already begun preparing a speech about self-preservation and what it meant to be in _protection_ ) when Sydney and Adrian re-entered. Sydney was – suspiciously – even neater than she had been before she and Adrian had left. Adrian looked dishevelled, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything since he _always_ looked at least a little dishevelled. Jill eagerly patted the open space next to her on the couch, and Adrian started to make his way over, but Sydney beat him to it, stealing the spot and grinning up at him.

“Nice, Sage,” said Adrian. “Real nice.”

Jill smirked, curling up against Sydney almost automatically. The sight stung Lissa more than she liked to admit. She had almost no relationship with Jill, and Jill had spent months pretending to be Sydney’s sister. Sydney had said it, at the start of all this: “ _I love your sister like she’s my own._ ”

“Are you going to tell the Alchemists?” asked Jill.

Sydney shook her head. “Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission, at the moment. They would want to see me beforehand to brief me, and we can’t risk them seeing this.” She tapped her cheek.

“It’s really not meant to be like that?” asked Lissa curiously. Sydney shook her head, smiling wryly.

“The tattoo had compulsion in it, but it turned silver when she broke the compulsion,” said Adrian proudly, his chest puffed out and everything. “She broke free because not even the Alchemists can control Sydney Sage.”

“Damn straight,” said Jill, clapping her hand over Sydney’s and squeezing. Sydney smiled, shy but sweet.

When the dawn came, they began packing up the car the moment the sun began to crest on the horizon. Silver rings had been acquired and charmed for Sydney, Eddie and Neil. Both guardians had a stake on them and Sydney was armed by a half-dozen memory charm and two bags of Starburst. Neither Sydney nor Christian’s car was big enough to fit the six heading for Court, and Lissa, as the smallest, had been the one offloaded to the boot – though, since it was a station wagon, it was better than it could have been, no matter how much Neil had spluttered over the arrangement when Angeline had first suggested it.

Before they left, Lissa hugged Jill in the cool morning air. “When this is all over, we’ll call more,” she promised.

Christian drove, with Eddie in passenger seat, Neil stuck in the back next to Sydney and Adrian, who were cuddling into each other and pretending that they weren’t. Lissa supposed it was probably for the best that they had started their relationship so far away from any other Moroi – she had no idea how they would have hidden it, otherwise. Five minutes out, they pulled over and Lissa swapped seats with Sydney, who hunkered down in the back and put on the first of the rings – one that would make the guardians on the gates look straight through her. They passed through the checkpoint with no issues and pulled into Court’s parking lot.

“Everyone remembers the plan?” asked Sydney. When everyone gave their assent, she nodded, and said, “Let’s move.”

The first stop was Guardians’ Headquarters. Sydney had traded silver rings for one that made her look like an unremarkable dhampir, with short, dark hair and only the promise mark tattooed on her neck. Eddie and Neil both had their appearances smudged, just a little – Eddie’s hair had been darkened to black and Neil’s turned a bright red, with a longer nose.

“Be back in a minute,” said Eddie. He was the one with the most experience in the Guardians’ Headquarters, so he was the one being sent in. Lissa took a seat on the bench outside. She could see most of the gardens from here, even the remnants of Alexandra’s statue. She stared at where the ancient queen’s statue had once stood. _We’re coming, Rose._

Eddie re-emerged only a few minutes later with Mikhail in tow. Before Mikhail even had a chance to start asking questions, Sydney shoved a memory charm into his hands and spoke the incantation. Mikhail stumbled with the force of his memories returning, needing to be caught by Eddie and Neil.

“Mikhail,” said Lissa, gently. “Are you back with us?”

He looked up. “Your Maje – Lissa?”

She smiled. Breaking Mikhail out of calling her by her title had been a work in progress. “We need your help, Mikhail. We think that Rose and Sonya are being held captive somewhere in Court, in a top secret prison. Do we have any?”

“Sonya,” whispered Mikhail. He closed his eyes for several long moments before opening them again. “I think I know what you mean.”

Mikhail led them to an inconspicuous office building on the far-side of Court. It was on the opposite side of Court than the palace or the Guardians’ Headquarters, in an area more used for non-royal Moroi workers. Mia lived only a few buildings over, and Sonya in a house only a five-minute walk away. In the lift, Mikhail used his guardian pass to get them access to the basement.

The entrance became obvious the moment they stepped into the basement. There were two guardians standing guard by a door, and Eddie and Neil moved ahead of the group without hesitation. Eddie struck out, hitting one of the guardians squarely in the face. He followed it up with a swift knee to the stomach and when the guardian collapsed, turned to help Neil. Neil and Eddie, as planned, led the other guardian away from his fallen companion, giving Adrian opportunity to kneel by the fallen guardian and order him to sleep.

They didn’t know if there would be more guardians between them and the cells – Rose had said there weren’t any inside the prison with them, but there was no telling what was between them and her. They had to wait for Eddie and Neil to take down the second guardian, even though Lissa could _feel_ the seconds ticking away.

The moment the second guardian was on the floor, Lissa ran to him. “What’s the key code?” she demanded. The compulsion seized hold of him and he rattled off a string of numbers. “Sleep,” she hissed, throwing more compulsion than was probably necessary into her command. He went out like a light, his eyes sliding shut and breath evening out. She stood up and hurried for the door, where she pressed in the numbers. Christian grabbed hold of her just before she started on the stairs, letting Eddie take the lead. Neil took up the back.

At the bottom of the stairs, the room opened up into a long hallway, with cells locked on the left. The prison was built out of all stone, and the light had a dim, flickering quality to it, despite the fact that the lights seemed fluorescent.

“Rose?” called Eddie, hesitantly.

“I’m here!”

Lissa broke into a run before anyone could stop her. Eddie caught up with her in only a few steps, but he didn’t try to pull her back, just got slightly ahead of her and then matched her pace. They came to a stop in front of Rose’s cell. Rose was on her feet, her hands wrapped around the bars and pressing herself against them.

“We’re going to get you out of here,” said Lissa, pulling at the lock fruitlessly.

“Here, let me,” said Sydney as she caught up with them. She took a vial from her bag and emptied it on to the lock. It disintegrated away in a matter of seconds.

“Is that more of your witchy voodoo?” asked Rose.

Sydney grinned. “It’s an Alchemist compound, actually.” She slid the cell door open and Lissa threw herself into Rose’s arms.

“Hi,” said Rose, catching Lissa and wrapping her into a hug. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of _course_ we came,” said Lissa, sniffling.

“Sonya?” Mikhail’s voice came from the next cell over. Sydney gave Rose one last smile before she took out a second vial and went to Mikhail’s side. Lissa and Rose watched as Sydney slid Sonya’s cell open and Mikhail and Sonya met in a fierce hug.

“Nina’s next door,” said Rose. “I don’t think she can come with us, but she deserves to be let out.”

As Sydney went to open the last of the cells, Lissa rested her head against Rose’s shoulder and said, “You’re really got to stop getting locked up places. We’re not going to be able to rescue you all the time.”

Rose hacked out a laugh and said, “Hey, I got myself out of Russia all by myself, thank you very much.”

“Still,” said Lissa.

Rose let go to pounce on Sydney, throwing her arms around her and saying, “You need to tell me _everything_ , you little rebel.”

“Later,” said Sydney. “For now, we’ve got places to be.”

-

Lissa tried to heal Nina and Sonya then and there, but there was nothing that could be done. Rose had led her away, speaking softly: “Oksana said that the darkness is too intrinsic to the spirit user to be healed out of them. There’s nothing you can do, Liss.”

She and Adrian had shared a look at that, the shared knowledge that they had only been spared from it by hurting the people they loved. Christian wrapped his arm around Lissa’s shoulders, and Sydney touched Adrian’s arm gently. It still wasn’t enough.

“I’m going to have to use more spirit before this is all over,” said Lissa to Rose. “I’ll heal the darkness out of you when it’s over. Is that okay with you?”

“ _Anything_ that lands Victor’s ass in jail and Dimitri back by my side is more than okay with me,” said Rose, a savage grin on her face.

Lissa nodded and turned. “Mikhail, we need to move on,” she said. “You can stay and protect Sonya and Nina if you wish, but it would be a huge help if you could join us in the throne room.”

Mikhail hesitated, still stroking Sonya’s hair. Her face was hidden in his shoulder, and they hadn’t gone a moment without touching since Sydney had opened her cell. Finally, he pressed a kiss to Sonya’s red hair and said, “If stopping Robert Doru will help Sonya, then that is what I have to do.”

“Thank you,” said Lissa. Surrounded by her people, a part of her started to believe that they could do this. Everyone with her had faced impossible odds before and won. Everyone with her knew and loved each other, and could count on each other at every turn. Had Victor ever had that with anyone? Was there anyone on this planet Victor wouldn’t betray for power? _Let’s not give him a chance to prove it_ , she thought.

“Let’s go,” she said.

It was well and truly daylight by the time they emerged back on to Court grounds. The streets were quiet and empty. The Moroi world slept, just like it had the night that Victor had changed their history. It meant they met no one during their march on the palace.

“I need to speak to the King,” she told the guardian at reception. His name was Eduard Albescu; he had been reception for her as well. Most of the guardians around the palace had been hers – Victor didn’t seem to have changed too many assignments. The ones he _had_ were the guardians she was going to have to look into after she had her throne back.

She didn’t stop for his reaction. She kept marching toward the royal quarters. Victor had meetings late into the night, and they were always in the throne room. A set of guardians by the entrance hesitated at the sight of her before stepping out to meet her. With a single, furious burst of compulsion, she sent them back to their positions against the wall.

Rose fell in step with her. “Careful,” warned Rose. “You don’t want to tire yourself out.”

“We still have Adrian,” said Lissa.

“Yeah, but Doru is one of the most experienced spirit users out there,” said Rose. “We’re going to need both of you. From now, let us take out the guardians the old-fashioned way.”

Lissa grit her teeth. She wanted to do this herself. _She_ wanted to reclaim her throne. For so much of her life, there were people doing things for her – finding her sister, taking her darkness, revealing the past – but this should be _hers_ to deal with. Her throne, her problem.

“It’s not just your problem,” said Rose, quietly. “Victor is a monster. He locked Sonya, Nina and me up. He forced Jill out of her safe place. He stole everyone else’s memories. That’s not just your fight anymore, Liss.”

Lissa blew out a long stream of air between her teeth. “I know,” she admitted. “I just feel like this should be _my_ duty. I’m the queen.” At the end of the hallway was another pair of guardians. Lissa stepped back and let the guardians in the group pass her. Royal guardians were always talented, but it was still two against four, and it only took a few minutes before Rose and Neil were laying each one gently on the ground to be helped when everything was over.

Eddie took his position at the door, hand on the handle. “Everyone ready?”

Lissa took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”

Eddie nodded and opened the door. Rose and Mikhail were the first through, followed by Christian, Adrian, Sydney then Lissa, followed up last by Eddie and Neil. The throne room wasn’t empty – four guardians dotted the edges of the room, two behind the throne, one by the back door, and one –

One was Dimitri, stationed by the door. Even though everyone in the room was surprised by their entrance, Dimitri didn’t hesitate – and neither did Rose. It was Rose who shoved forwards, using her momentum to slam Dimitri backwards and away from the rest of the group. Lissa had seen Dimitri and Rose fight a hundred times before, watched as Rose flirted outrageously as Dimitri just tried to finish their practice bout. Watching Rose fight Dimitri for _real_ made her stomach drop, a vivid reminder of Las Vegas, or Leigh –

Lissa blinked, and the chalky skin and blood eyes were gone. There was no time for anyone to help Rose, because there were three other guardians moving to engage Eddie, Neil and Mikhail. Rose blocked a punch from Dimitri with her arm, her feet almost slipping under the force of the blow. Dimitri was stronger than Rose, always had been, but Rose had one advantage over him right now: she knew Dimitri, and he no longer knew her. Rose let her left foot slip, and Dimitri pushed the advantage, but Rose was already gone. She hooked her left foot around his leg and kicked out: already off-balance from lunging, Dimitri tripped, and Rose followed him to the ground, straddling his chest.

“You better get this done, Liss!” yelled Rose.

Victor watched from her throne, his green eyes like steel. Robert Doru had crept from the side of the room to hunch next to his brother, his eyes wide and worried. “How long have you known, Vasilisa?”

“Long enough,” said Lissa.

“And the pet Alchemist is here!” said Victor in a tone that tried at amused delight but didn’t quite make it. “I would have thought your people would have put you in one of your bunkers after your stunt.”

Sydney jerked her chin up. “Looks like only one of us was smart enough to escape prison.”

“This is _over_ , Victor,” said Lissa. “Rose, Jill, Sonya and Nina – none of them are going to suffer any longer for you. Surrender now, and we might be able to create some kind of deal.”

Victor leaned forward. “I think you’re misunderstanding, Vasilisa. I still have the upper-hand. You have such little experience with your powers, and the Ivashkov boy has abused his so much it’s a wonder he can even touch his -”

“Adrian’s stronger than you could ever know,” spat Sydney.

“ – while Robert, who is vastly more experienced, only has to hold out until more guardians arrive to put down your insurrection,” continued Victor, as if Sydney hadn’t even spoken. “If I’m feeling generous at the end of all of this, Vasilisa, we may try again. I don’t want to harm you. I want you to live a happy life, as I gave you. But I cannot risk you attempting to assassinate me every few months.”

“A happy life?” asked Lissa. “An _empty_ life. But we’re all just tools to you, aren’t we?” Of course he didn’t understand the human bonds that tied Lissa to her friends. She turned to Robert, pointedly ignoring Victor. “Does he tell you he loves you? That he just wants you safe? That he just wants to do what’s best for the Moroi? Because he told me that. He told Natalie that.”

Robert bared his teeth at her. “Not such a gentle girl after all.”

Lissa let her aura vision flare into focus. Robert’s aura exploded in front of her, a kaleidoscope of gold and shadow. Every part of his aura strained in different directions, the darkness trying to fold in on him, the gold trying to push out and on to her. Lissa gently plucked out four golden threads and _tugged_ –

“ _Lissa!_ ” screamed Rose, right before she hit the ground.


End file.
